Nature’s teacher

*Editor's note

: Ten years after his death, the University of Iowa Press has published “The Raptors of Iowa” (University of Iowa Press, 2013; $29.95), a 32-page, full-color collection of wildlife artist James F. Landenberger's paintings of Iowa birds, from the common turkey vulture to the red-shouldered hawk of Mississippi River woodlands to the little northern saw-whet owl. Four naturalists, including Indian Creek Nature Center Director Rich Patterson, have written essays to complement the paintings. Following is Patterson's essay, which appears as a foreword in the book.

About a dozen people gathered at the Indian Creek Nature Center one warm May morning in the late 1980s. Equipped with walking shoes and binoculars, they set out birding under the guidance of Jim Landenberger.

Although I organized the walk I'm, at best, only a mediocre birder and looked forward to learning from Jim.

The group filtered through a woodland bordering Indian Creek and emerged into a prairie while ticking off species either seen or heard-kingfishers, orioles, grosbeaks, song sparrows, yellowthroats and more.

Then a problem arose.

A small dark bird perched on a fence post 20 feet from the group. A member of the great tribe of birds I generically call LBB, or little brown bird, it was indistinctly marked. Normally LBB's flit around so fast that birders don't get much of a look at them, giving a leader an opportunity to simply say “Not sure what it is. Didn't get a good look” and move on.

This bird, however, was accommodating. It calmly studied the group. Everyone had binoculars trained on it and someone said, “Jim, what kind of bird is that?” Jim peered. The bird stretched. Someone else said, “Is it a warbler?”

Although an accomplished birder, Jim, I could tell, was stumped. He didn't know what it was. His face flushed as he responded with a string of unintelligible stuttering that could have been an expletive!

The maddening LBB eventually became bored with us and winged into nearby brush. During the rest of the walk, Jim helped us correctly identify more than 35 species.

Jim's bird study began in childhood, matured in youth, and flowered into an impressive artistic career. His stuttering was life changing. Wishing to become a biology teacher he enrolled in the University of Iowa only to have professors discourage him. “You can't be an effective teacher with a severe stutter,” one stated.

That professor inadvertently inspired Jim to become one of Iowa's most unconventional but effective teachers of natural history, especially birds. His medium was not the spoken word. It was art.

In childhood, Jim was a doodler. Rarely far from a scrap of paper, his pencil created visual magic. This love of images led to a long career as an advertising artist at The Gazette.

Designing display ads for cars, chiropractors, banks, and boutiques may have satisfied his doodling passion but left him remote from the birds he loved. Jim's evenings were spent in his home studio, painting birds with the dream of becoming a successful professional freelance wildlife artist. Helped and mentored by good friend and renowned Canadian wildlife artist J.F. (Fen) Lansdowne, Jim perfected his craft. Eventually he sold a painting. Then another. Then limited edition prints of his original watercolors began selling.

Jim's dream became reality when he won the Iowa duck and trout stamp contests. With those awards came celebrity status and more painting and print sales in the golden era of wildlife art. He left The Gazette to devote his energy to art.

Jim work promoted his other passions - conservation and teaching. His art communicated a deep commitment to the protection of nature that impacted every fabric of his being. Through art he became an effective teacher and motivator. Anyone studying a Landenberger original or print sees birds, fish, or furry animals surrounded by leaves, grasses, seeds and sky in utter accuracy. Viewing a Landenberger painting sparks a desire to grab a pair of binoculars, strap on boots, and head for a marsh, woods or stream.

Painting, teaching and conservation became intertwined and motivated Jim to donate art to Ducks Unlimited, helping the noted organization raise money to protect and restore waterfowl habitat.

Following the first Earth Day in the 1970s, Jim was approached with a crazy idea by Cedar Rapids residents B.B. Stamats and Jean O'Donnell. Their vision was to establish a place, close to town, where school kids and families could enjoy and learn from nature. It would be Iowa's first nature center.

They had a problem. No money.

The fledgling Indian Creek Nature Center needed dollars to hire a staff to develop a children's environmental education program. He created and donated a stunning original watercolor, “Backwater Woodies,” to the Indian Creek Nature Center and allowed charter members to receive a free limited edition print of the painting. Hundreds joined, and in the next 40 years nearly 2 million people - mostly children - have visited the Nature Center. The original “Backwater Woodies” remains on display in the Indian Creek Nature Center's Sunroom.

Jim faced a dilemma common to many artists. What one likes to create isn't always what sells. The stark reality of paying bills often dictated a painting's subject. In the heyday of wildlife art that tended to be game birds, especially waterfowl and pheasants. As the Landenberger reputation grew, his subjects expanded to include chickadees, goldfinches, river otters, trout and many other scaled, furred and feathered species. He also designed pewter belt buckles and painted a striking diorama backdrop in Macbride Hall on the University of Iowa campus.

Few birds caught Jim's notice as much as Iowa's great diversity of hawks, falcons, eagles and vultures, collectively called raptors. An artistic goal became the creation of stunning paintings of all Iowa's raptor species. All paintings were finished by 1997 and culminated in the publication of this book many years later.

In 1997 Jim, his wife Toni, and their two grandchildren moved to Florida. Until his death in 2003 he enjoyed and painted southern species and ocean scenes, but his connections to Iowa remained strong.

News of Jim's death brought sadness to the Indian Creek Nature Center and his many friends and family, but years after his deft fingers last guided a watercolor filled brush, he continues to teach and inspire the people who enjoy and love his art.|

• What: Walking with Jim Landenberger
• When: 8 a.m. Saturday
• Where: Indian Creek Nature Center, 6665 Otis Rd. SE, Cedar Rapids
• Cost: $6 to $8